William baton thomson



W. P. THOMSON.

RAIL JOINT.

APGPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. 1918.

1,306,981. Patented June 17, 1919.

In V672 for MAL/fin F? TVOMSQ/V I g3 fig-ii thereof out of firmsupporting contact with the base of the rail. This condition may be A 1 WILLIAM PATON THOMSON, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE RAIL JOINT COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

RAIL-JOINT.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM PATON THOMSON, citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rail joints, and more particularly to a rail-base supporting joint having a practical and novel improvement in the tie seating portion thereof.

One of the difliculties of joint installation resides in providing a proper seat for the joint on the tie. This is due, ordinarily, to the irre ular bearing on the tie, which irregularity is accentuated frequently by careless adzing of the tie seat. Such irregular bearing interferes at times with the proper fitting and application of the bar to the'rails, and also with the maintenance thereof in a correctly seated position on the tie. Accordingly, the invention has primarily in view an improvement in the base of the joint bar whereby the same will become automatically and correctly seated regardlessof moderate, but very troublesome, unevenness or irregularity in the supporting surface of the tie.

Frequently, under present conditions, the greatest resistance tothe seating of joint bars, of the/base supporting type, is offered at the outer portion of the base member of the bar, thustending to pull the inner edge effectively corrected by'theconstruction contemplated by the present invention, and which is designed on the principle of installing a metallic bearing surface on'wthe tie in such a manner that a compression of wood fibers of the tie will exist in decreasing ra- I -tio away from. a zone of maximum compressive resistance, said zone of maximum compresslve resistance being dlsposed underneath the 1111161. portlon of the supportlng base flange of the joint bar.

I Therefore, the present invention proposes to provide a joint bar with a rail supporting "base member of special. formation, so that "when the joint isinstalled on a tie withran upper face substantially parallel'tothe under .face of the rail base, its tie bearing surface will be so disposed with reference to the upper surface of the tie, that as the load is applied, the initial eompression ofrthe wood Specification of Letters Patent. t t June 117, 1 1 Application filed June 13, 1918.

Serial N 0. 239,781.

fibers of the tie will take place beneath the inner portion of the rail supporting base member of the bar, and as the compressive load force tends to embed said member into the tie, new areas of wood fiber are successively brought under compression, until the ultimate bearing surface extends to the outer edge of the spiking flange of the bar. Thus, the present invention aims to eliminate the possibility of the undesirable condition above referred to, thereby not only positively insuring the proper seating of the bar on the tie to resist lateral load thrusts, but at the same time maintain the base flanges of the bar in effectivi: supporting contact with the base of the m1 With the foregoing general objects in view, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings which show several preferred and practical ways of carrying the invention into eflect, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic end elevation of a bisected rail having a joint bar fitted thereto and embodying the present improvements.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a modified form of the invention.

Similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts through the several figures of the drawing. I

In carrying forward the objects of the a present invention, it is proposed to make the flange A of the joint bar of special ormation. That is to say,'the'improved construetion involves as its distinctive idea, the feature of providing its base member A with the primary and secondary bearing faces 1 and 2 the former being relatively level and horizontal, while the latter is inclined upwardly and outwardly, with respect thereto, thereby roviding a secondary tie bearing face which -1n efl'ect diverges upwardly and away from the horizontal from a point near the outer edge of'the rail base to the outer spiking edge of the bar, where it reaches its maximum divergence as may be plainly seen from Figs. 1 and 2 ofthe drawings.

Although this novel formation of the rail seating member of the bar may be obtained in various ways, a practical embodiment thereof is suggested in Fig. l of the drawings, wherein it will be observed that the base member A of the bar is, of a generally tapered formation froi'n'th'e inner edge thereof outwardly toward the edge of the spiking flange, while the extreme inner portion of the basemen'rber may be truncated or beveled as at 3'for a distance approximately equal to the space a to provide less tie resistance when forcing the bar inward toward the rail web and also reducing the initial horizontal bearing of the bar on thetie.

In this form of construction it will be seen that the base member of the bar is provided adjacent its inner edge with a substantially level or horizontal primary tie bearing base 1, the relative size of which may vary according to the design of the bar and the particular requirements, but in all embodiments of the invention is located principally beneath the base of the rail.

Fig. 1 of the drawing shows the said priinary tie bearing face 1 as extending from the truncated or beveled inner edge portion 3 to a perpendicular plane intersecting the outer edge of the rail flange, and from the latter point the underside of-the base member of the bar inclines outwardly and upwardly from the horizontal to produce the upwardly and outwardly inclined secondary bearing face 2. This secondary bearing face extends from its point of intersection with the horizontal level bearing face 1 to the spiking edge of the bar.

WVhen a joint bar, having the characteristic features described, is applied to the rail and seated upon a normal tie, the fibers of the latter will be initially compressed at a point directly beneath the rail base, and, as the service load is imposed upon the joint, the primary bearing face 1 will en'i'bed itself in the tie to a greater or less extent until the secondary bearing face comes into play to also rest upon the supporting surface of the tie, and provide a substantial bearing for the full width of the bar. The

, result of this action, upon the tie, is to create a concavity or socket in the upper face thereof which will form a seat for the splice bar, affording the firmest compressive resistance beneath the inner portion of the rail supporting base flange of the joint bar, thus tending 'to sustain the same firmly under the central part of the rail. This will obviously be the result, because the compressive wood fiber resistance at that-point must always be greater than beneath the outer or spiking flange portion, where the existence of a substantially less compressive'resistance will have the effect of eliminating cross strains such as frequently occur when the under face of the base of the splice bar is parallel throughout to the under face of the rail base. i

Accordingly, it will be apparent that the distinctive feature of the present improvement resides in providing the base of the bar with primary and secondary tie bearing faces, the former being disposed in a plane substantially parallel with the rail base, while the latter is disposed obliquely with reference thereto and in such a manner that it will gradually come into bearing en- ,ary faces may be varied according to requirements, it is preferred to form the primary bearing face of such width that when both bars are applied to the rail, the initialbearings of a pair of bars on a normal tie will present a support of substantially less total width than the width of the base of the rail.

A further modification of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings wherein the primary bearing face 4 of the base member A' is of relatively [restricted width, while the upwardly inclining secondary tie seating surface 5 may include a pluralityvrof stepped portions 6 producing longitudinal shoulders 7- which when engaged with the supporting surface of the. tie may materially assist in holding the bar against moving outwardly toward the outer end of the tie. In this form of the invention precisely the same progressive seating action takes place on and in the tie as that described in connection with Fig. 1, and the underlying feature of the present invention, namely that of providing primary and secondary bearing faces is conserved, thus preventing a fulcruming action at the outer edge of the spiking flange of the joint bar which will draw the base members out of contact with the rail.

In addition to rendering the installation of the-joint bar uniformly eflicient under practirallyall conditions of tie seating service, the present improvement holds the bar againstspreading apart, and secures the base of each pair of bars against movement outwardly, while at the same time maintaining a maximum thrust resistance near the center of the rail and minimizing any tendency 3. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having a primary and a secondary tiegbearing face. i l

4. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having angularly related primary and secondary tie bearing faces. a

5. A rail jointbar provided with a base member having a relatively horizontal primary tie bearing face and a secondary tie bearing face disposed obliquely with reference thereto.

6. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having a plurality of tie bearing faces arranged to compress the Wood fibers of the tie in decreasing ratio away from the zone of maximum compression.

7. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having a relatively horizontal primary tie bearing surface, and a secondary tic bearing face inclining upwardly and outwardly therefrom.

8. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having a primary bearing face adapted to be located between the vertical axis and the outer edge portion of the base flange of the rail to which it is applied, and a secondary bearing face inclining upwardly from said primary face.

9. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having a horizontal primary tie bearing face adapted 'to be located entirely beneath the base of the rail to which the bar is applied, and a secondary tie bearing face inclining upwardly and outwardly therefrom.

10. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having a primary bearing face adjacent its inner edge, and an inclined secondary tie bearing face located between said primary bearing face and the spiking edge of the bar.

11. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having separate tie bearing faces lying in different planes and arranged to progressively seek tie embedment in decreasing ratio away from the zone of maximum compression. 4

12. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having means for placing the fibers of the tie under maximum compression beneath the underside of said base member and progressively under lesser compression toward the outer side thereof.

13. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having means for compressing the wood fibers of the tie beneath the same in decreasing ratio away from the zone of maximum compression.

14. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having a primary tie bearing face adapted to embed itself in the tie, and a secondary tie bearing face adjacent said primary bearing face and adapted to automatically become seated from the inner portion thereof toward the spiking edge of the bar.

15. A'rail joint bar provided with a base member having a primary bearing face, and a secondary bearing face disposed at such an angle with reference to the primary bearing face as to provide lateral thrust resistance when seated upon the tie.

16. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having separate tie bearing faces disposed in different planes and adapted to progressively engage with the seating surface of the tie.

17. A rail joint bar provided with a base member having a primary tie bearing face and with an inner edge portion adjacent said face formed to offer less resistance to tie engagement than said primary face.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM PATON THOMSON.

Witnesses:

E. K. KERSHNER, O. A. DISBROW.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

